The sad thing, I don't think that the small MPG increase was worth dropping the two cylinders. Personally, I think it was an excuse so that Porsche can do exactly as the article indicates and drop the Boxster line altogether. Taking off my tin foil hat now and reentering the real world. Guess the Macan will become the new entry-level Porsche.

I dispute that. For one, they claimed it was to increase MPG of the entire company fleet, but the gains were nominal at best. They could have gotten the same by de-tuning the six, and/or decreasing the "size" of the six. Both would have probably helped with emissions, as well.

... Mr. Obama, then POTUS in 2012, mandated that cars needed to double their MPGs by 2025.The CAFE Standards set forth in 2012 require that every manufacturer's fleet average a whopping 54.5 MPG by 2025.So, every manufacturer, including Porsche has been forced to make drastic changes, especially turbocharging smaller engines.Why? Because Car makers know that government fuel-economy tests, especially those outside the USA, approximate the driving style of a heavily sedated octogenarian great-grandmother.Since the engine is rarely taxed, the turbo doesn't spool up, so no extra fuel is used and the MPG numbers get to meet or best the environmental regulations.But purposely driving slowly enough to keep the turbo from generating boost defeats the point of having a turbocharger in the first place.So we, the enthusiasts, loose out for nothing. We get less of a car (flat-4), at a higher price and with lower real world MPGs.It's so absurd, that it's comical and sad.Enjoy them while you have them!Happy Boxstering,Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 287,000+ miles: http://www.PedrosGarage.comPCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)
Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar
"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"
"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti
"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

The other factor behind the squeeze on to smaller turbo engines like the 718 comes from the European regulatory side and carbon footprint hysteria. With governments around the world requiring the next generation of cars to emit far fewer pollutants than they do now, the whole small turbo move is a stop gap until what we get are plug in cars.

Its' all driven by emissions. Of course part of the EU energy strategy to be energy independent ASAP. ' Fuel' economy is both smoke screen, and a minimal by-product.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

I admit I am biased. I have not looked at prices and availability for the 987.2 with the 9A1 engine lately, but I was surprised when I was car shopping at the relatively low price for the Boxsters with the newer engine without IMS. It may be that the cause is fewer units out on the street, but there seems to be a very low number of 987.2 cars with problems.

Something with a 2 cylinder moped engine or something. That would bring up the fleet average MPG.

It would tarnish the brand, but it would allow them to keep making great sports cars.

Government regulations are a joke. The whole "SUV" thing was driven by the desire to have people buy "trucks" not "cars." This because safety and MPG regulations were much less stringent on trucks than cars. This was particularly true for safety regs.

The Chrysler PT Cruiser.... A truck? Well, it was under the regs.

We are now seeing the same thing with turbos. The cars get under the regs, but they do nothing to save fuel due to how real humans actually drive.

I now have a 4 cylinder Volvo XC90. It has BOTH a turbocharger and a supercharger. Apparently, they are both needed to move 4,500 lbs with a 4 banger.

Do you think that 4 banger is going to hold up medium/long term. I am going with not so well. If'n the car fails, and you need to buy a newly manufactured unit, how much Carbon gets used? I lot more.

I must say, that in the year and a half since I sold my Boxster because the SECOND engine needed replacing and I wasn't going to make that investment again, I have mixed feelings about the car.

There is no question that it is the best driving experience I've ever had, and certainly a pure sports-car experience. Nevertheless, with certified car prices approaching $50,000, I'm not sure its worth it -- particularly after having had two engines go bad on me (not to mention other repairs that were expensive).

I realize there are drivers on this board who can casually fork out that kind of money for a car, but I'm not one of them. I'm also not the kind of person who can spend big money on a car and then plan on spending a lot of time with my (trusted) indy mechanic. I mean, to be honest, if I'd had the kind of experience I had with the Porsche with a lesser "marque" -- if it had been a Toyota, without the cachet of Porsche -- I'd never go back to the car.

I haven't as yet replaced the 986, but hope to next year. If I fall into a pile of money, I'll consider another Boxster because of the driving experience. However, there are other cars that provide razorlike handling, such as the BMW 2 series, and probably some other, less expensive ones, that I'd also consider. And if I found myself in new-car financial territory, I'd look hard at the planned BMW Z-4 (or the Alpine A110 if they's put a manual in it and sell it in this country).

I have to add, that if Porsche is unhappy with sales levels, they have only themselves to blame. We all recall that a few years ago they were talking about putting out a "Baby Boxster" that would return to the company's roots in the 1950s. In addition to not being sure I want to spend the money on a new or certified Boxster, even if I won the lottery, I'd think twice about the boat that the once-svelte 911 has become. There's no question, though, that I would have looked hard at the erstwhile Baby Boxster.

As far as emissions standards, etc., they're here to stay and having come to grips with the loss of manual chokes on cars, I think I can handle future modifications in that direction.